Thomas Salmon Smith, a draper by
trade and the son of Giles and Sarah Smith (see Day 36), took over the tenancy
of Park Farm on his father's death in 1900. He and his wife Phoebe had one
child, Thomas, who was much-liked and enthusiastic about farming. In August
1907, when he was seventeen, he had a tragic accident.
He jumped on his bike at first light – around 5.15am – to go and
feed his fowls in a nearby field. His foot slipped off the pedal and he fell
and cut his knee. When he got back home half an hour later, he said to his
father, 'I've smashed my knee again.'
His father washed the cut with disinfectant, then had him
seen by the local doctor. The wound seemed to be healing.
A few days later, Thomas complained of stiffness in his back
and jaws. He couldn't eat his dinner properly. He was taken to the doctor at
once.
Tetanus (lockjaw) was diagnosed. An
infection caused by soil-borne bacteria contaminating a deep wound, tetanus
triggers uncontrollable spasms in all muscles, which lock rigid. It was very
common in the local area, and in the 1900s it was untreatable.
Within four days, Thomas was dead.
Thomas' gravestone in Preston
cemetery.
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